Bicycle rider, just see what you've done

Yesterday I did something I hadn't done in about 30 years:

I got on a bicycle and rode it.

My kindly employer provides shared bikes to help people get around our increasingly sprawling campus. I've been wanting to ride one, but I've been a little worried that I might embarrass/kill myself if I tried. Last night, I worked until about 8:00 PM, and I was leaving, I decided it was late enough to avoid embarrassment and traffic, and still light enough to ride safely. So I grabbed the bike, put my briefcase in the basket, adjusted the seat, and jumped on.

You know that saying that you never forget how to ride a bike? Oh yes you do :-(. When I first started pedaling, I had serious concerns about losing my balance and falling over. I soon got over that, but then discovered I couldn't seem to get the thing to go in straight line. So I dragged the bike to the back of the building where there were fewer cars parked and tried again. Better! As I got up some speed, I got less wobbly, although I still wasn't traveling as straight as I would have liked. And then, the old feeling of being 12 years old and flying to the comic book store on my banana-seat Schwinn, wind in my face, returned all at once.

I made one quick loop of the parking lot, being very careful not to crash to my doom (imagine the headline: "South Bay Man Dies in One-Bike Crash"). After riding for less than 10 minutes, I was already winded. But it felt great. And then I got into my comfortable car and drove home.